Borssele nuclear power plant

Infobox NPP
Picture = HavenEnCentrale.jpg
Pic_des = Borssele NPP
Country = Netherlands
Utility = N.V. Elektriciteits Produktiemaatschappij Zuid-Nederland
Built = 1969
Start = October 26, 1973
End =
Reactor = 1
Reactor_MW = 515
S_Reactor =
S_Reactor_MW =
B_Reactor =
B_Reactor_MW =
E_Reactor =
E_Reactor_MW =
El_Prod = 3,273
for_year = 2006
El_Prod_avg = 3,625
Net_Prod = 108,414
WEBSITE =
as_of = July 25, 2007The Borssele nuclear power plant is a nuclear power plant in the Dutch town of Borssele. It has a pressurized water reactor (PWR). Borssele is the only nuclear power plant still operational for electricity production in the Netherlands. Its net output is 485 MW.

History

The Borssele nuclear power plant was built by Siemens and is operational since 1973. Originally it was mainly built to supply relatively cheap electricity to aluminum producer Pechiney. In 2006, the installation of a modern steam turbine brought the original output from 449 MW to 485 MW.

Nuclear fuel

In 2008, Borssele announced it wanted to require a permit to burn MOX fuel [ [http://89.151.116.69/ENF-EPZ_applies_to_use_MOX_fuel_at_Borssele_0905082.html EPZ applies to use MOX fuel at Borssele ] ] . Currently, the uranium used by Borssele comes from Kazakhstan [ [http://www.ecn.nl/docs/library/report/2005/c05094.pdf Kerncentrale Borssele na 2013-Gevolgen van Beindiging of voortzetting van de bedrijfsvoering ] ] .

Radioactive waste

Areva NC [ [http://www.cogemalahague.fr/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=cogema_en/common/gotopage&assetid=1039482706828&type=Page&callingpage=1039482706507 AREVA NC - nuclear energy, nuclear fuel - La Hague ] ] reprocesses the spent fissionable material in La Hague, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France. Part of the deal is that the radioactive waste (i.e. the products of the reprocessing which are not useful) are taken back by the Netherlands. They are stored at the COVRA.

The Central Organization for Radioactive Waste (COVRA), also at Borssele, is the national storage facility for all radioactive wastes. It is a surface facility suitable for the next 100 years.

Borssele produces around 12 tonnes of high level waste annually [ [http://www.oecdbookshop.org/oecd/display.asp?K=5KZK0CBTJQZT&CID=&LANG=en Nuclear Energy Data 2008] , OECD, p. 48 (the Netherlands, Borssele_nuclear_power_plant)] .

Controversy

The use of nuclear energy is a controversial issue in Dutch politics. The first commercial nuclear plant in the Netherlands, Dodewaard, was decommissioned in 1997 after only 28 years of service. This decision was taken against the background of political opposition to nuclear energy. In 1994, government and parliament decided to close down the Borssele plant as of 2004. However, due to legal action by owners and employees of the plant and changes in government policy in 2002, the decommissioning was delayed until 2013, meaning the plant would exactly fulfill its originally intended life span of 40 years. In recent years nuclear energy has become less controversial in the Netherlands and is increasingly viewed as one of many possibilities to reduce CO₂ emissions and increase national energy self-reliance. As a result, the Dutch government decided in 2006 that Borssele would remain operational until 2033.

ources

This stub was based on information from the website of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment [ [http://www.vrom.nl Ministerie van VROM - Home ] ] and the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands. [ [http://www.energie.nl Energie in Nederland ] ]

References

References

ee also

*Nuclear reactors in the Netherlands

External links

* [http://www.insc.anl.gov/cgi-bin/rperl/sql_interface?view=newrx_data&qvar=oracle_id&qval=237 Nuclear power plant data]